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An Irish contribution to the Italian electoral system debate

JAMES WALSTON

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9 August 2012

JAMES WALSTON

9 August 2012

The Chamber of Deputies

ROME- It is obvious enough but has to be said: there is no perfect electoralsystem. If we want to elect a legislature, there are two major issues toresolve. Inevitably we have to compromise between representativity ­ givingevery party or pressure group a voice ­ and effectiveness ­ creating a clearmajority in the assembly so that they can actually take decisions. Secondly,we also have to build an acceptable form of responsibility into the system ­who is the single legislator responsible to?

On the first issue, the most representative system is certainly the Knessetin Israel. The have a single 120 member constituency for the whole countrywith a threshold which used to be 1%, then 1.5% and is now 2%, still closeto perfect proportionality. So in order to have a deputy, you only need topoll 2% over the whole country. Not surprisingly, there are usually betweena dozen and 20 parties in the Knesset and forming a majority to support thegovernment is normally a nightmare of bartering policy and position.

At the other extreme is the British model where there are 650 single memberconstituencies. The winner in each is the candidate who scores one vote morethan the next candidate. Between 40 and 45% will normally give a party alarge working majority around 60% of the seats. Until the last elections,Britain almost never had problems forming a government and the presentgovernment is the first fully fledged coalition since the war.

They have governability, the Israelis have representation.

On the second point, who chooses the single legislators and who are theyresponsible to, the usual (legitimate) answers are that they are chosen bytheir party or their electors and are responsible to them and their ownconsciences. Less legitimate answers include the lobby or pressure groupthat has supported or financed the legislator. Whenever the legislatorvotes, he or she has to weigh up the importance of the threeresponsibilities and if they are in conflict, take a decision over which oneto follow.The perceived failure of the present Italian electoral law is in the totallack of connection between legislator and elector. The members of parliamenthold the post only through party loyalty. In many countries this is not seenas a problem but because of the personal character or many Italian parties,not only Berlusconi¹s, a deputy or senator depends on the caprice of theLeader. And that is not healthy for any democratic polity.

There has been talk of adopting the French double ballot system or theGerman system of a list plus single member constituency or re-introducingthe preference votes where voters may give one (or more) votes to individualcandidate(s) of their chosen list.

One solution which has not been considered is the single transferable vote(STV) used in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, Malta and extensivelyin Australia. It is flexible and gives voters maximum choice in individualsand parties and ensures a small number of parties that have a good chance offorming a working government.

Constituencies are multi-member but small (three to five usually); this inpractice gives an electoral threshold of around 15% though there is noofficial threshold. This limits the number of parties and prevents theformation one- or two-man parties as in Israel. In Malta, there are actuallyonly two parties so that one has a majority.

The voters list their choice of candidates, normally the number oflegislators to be elected and not limited to a single party. So one can votefor candidate 1 in party A as first choice, candidate 2 in party B andsecond and 2 in party C as third. A quota is calculated based on the numberof votes cast and the first choice votes are counted. If candidate 1A pollsmore than necessary, his second choices are then counted and distributed tothe other candidates; they are transferred until another two candidatesreach the quota. If none reach it, then the lowest scoring candidate iseliminated and his votes transferred.

Voters have a choice of candidates and parties and the system minimiseswasted votes. The legislator is closely linked to the electorate and to theparty. The territorial link does makes for some clientelistic or porkbarrelling practices but this is not just a function of the system. Thenumber of parties is limited and will normally be able to form a government.

The only disadvantage is the complication and slowness of the count, a smallprice to pay for an excellent compromise. In order to give their candidatesthe best possible chance, Irish party workers develop mental arithmeticskills in probability that befuddle the average observer, a curiousbyproduct.

At the end of the day, no system will guarantee good government; the bestcook cannot make a good dish from rotten material but a bad cook can ruingood raw materials.